


The Spirits that were called

by LukeWords



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Lawyers, Post-Lawsuit (9-1-1 TV)
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-06-25
Updated: 2020-12-10
Packaged: 2021-03-04 00:35:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 12,543
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24904696
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukeWords/pseuds/LukeWords
Summary: After the lawsuit and all that came down to them from it, the others at Station 118 needed time to forgive Buck what he did to them and as they did, they thought about how much more time Buck would need to forgive himself for what he blamed himself having done to the family he found in them.They didn't however think about the spirits that were called and are not as open to forgiveness as the family has been. The happy reunion at 118 therefore doesn't return them to normal as fast as they had hoped, prayed and finally expected it would, instead starting to worry them if it would at all.Set after S3E6.
Comments: 6
Kudos: 35





	1. You, finally (again)

**Author's Note:**

  * A translation of [Die Geister, die gerufen wurden](https://archiveofourown.org/works/25739338) by [LukeWords](https://archiveofourown.org/users/LukeWords/pseuds/LukeWords). 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Welcome to this premiere, I guess I have to say. This is not only my first work in the 9-1-1 fandom, but also the first of my works I tried (or try better to say) to make a translation into English of.   
> It is in fact the first ever work (of fanfiction that is) in English I work on and I must also note that this work has not seen the independent proofreading it would therefore need, so please forgive me if something isn't smooth to read in your eyes. I would be happy on any feedback regarding story of course, but language too.  
> Only because this work of mine will (yet again) include a lawyer that shouldn't mean that I want my readers to have to file a lawsuit against to get quality. ;)
> 
> The oddest thing probably is, that I start publishing the translation before the original - German - version because the episode I'm starting from has not yet aired in Free-TV (as Season 3 will start shortly after they finish to re-air Season 2 here and is also not available for streaming yet), so i thought it would be fitting better this way.
> 
> Have fun anyway and read you soon!

Henrietta Wilson, called “Hen” by her friends, walked down the yard of Station 118 extraordinarily happy even for her standards on this morning. It was already some time ago since she caught herself to leave behind her family life — Karen to be more exact — at the beginning of each shift with more eagerness than she could bring up for returning home after it, but today was even more different than usual: Finally, her family — the other one, as she corrected herself in her thoughts after just a little too much time — returned to peace with each other and the lost son — her “fledgling”, as Chim put it with respect to age even if no longer for shift seniority (for the first time after that day on which Hen saved Bucks career from its way too soon end at four months on her own) when they discussed how to help Buck to be accepted in the ranks of his brothers and (of course!) sister (in uniform) — again.

After her own experiences as a misfit and Typhoid Mary she had pitied Evan — whose nickname had ben changed of all by his (at that point seemingly former) best friend during the discord from the loving “Buck(ley)” to “Bug (the malfunction)” — from minute one he returned to active duty at Station 118. For sure his vendetta against the LAFD was once again far from what the perfect comrade — brother! — would do. Hell, her own past in that dodgy pharma company had been used by Buck –even if only for a short period of time and under the bad influence of Chase Mackey, that greasy pettifogger for his own benefit — but Hen had forgiven him before he even asked for it. She simply could not be angry at someone for more than a few minutes even if she tried.  
The cold — frankly hostile!, she corrected herself — attitude the others showed towards Buck was — in her point of view — worse than anything what a desperate Buck had done or could have done to save his career — to remain part of the family — after all that happened to him. In a family, if someone was in need for comfort and perspective, you gave a hand and helped, no matter how bad, risky or self-indulged the need may be, that was that, what Bobby had preached and exemplified and what he gave up — what he betrayed — himself as a leader in this situation.

That Bobby and the others felt remorse now needed no explanation, but that form of guilt was  well-deserved . She had had no reason to plead with Chimney to support Evan, he had just taken mere minutes longer than herself to get on his side, because hell he  knew about being  the outcast. The others took much longer to understand what was obvious — she couldn’t understand that even yet when thinking about Bobby, who could talk about a second chance from own experience, or Eddie, who (now again) called himself Bucks best friend like no other at 118 after a frosty start when he began his service — but now they had. A shame another injury and another stay in the hospital — even if short termed and basically harmless  — and thereby another shock (at least a little one) for the family of 118 had been needed and Hen would take much more time to finally get over this, no matter how digestible  Bobby's meals for the reunited family would be.  
Much more important than that all — and that she could get from her own mood even when  her thoughts wandered through the past again  — was the successful reunion that turned the drama to a happy ending.

  
  


“Henrietta Wilson?”, a surprised voice drew her back into reality and replaced the thrill of anticipation for the first shift after the big family squabble was replaced by an even amount of surprise on her side. That voice she couldn’t fit on anyone she would have expected at the firehouse on this day or another — yet it felt as if she had heard it before. She had already reached the entrance and had just entered into the hall. Maybe she turned around a little too sudden, because the unknown man looked up to her with an expression of excuse as if he thought to have frightened her before moving on with a bright smile: “It’s actually you, Hen! What a great surprise. Remember me.”  
She had needed that little moment to realize that she did indeed remember: “If I remember? How could I forget that face… Nate, isn’t it?” The name was a somewhat different question, she had concluded after eyeing down the man that was around her age.  
“I could never forget you too, Hen, as you saved my life back then.”, he responded nodding at her guess.  
“Maybe saved your life, but I seem not to have saved your living.”, Hen concluded and looked down at the wheelchair the visitor was using.

“Oh, forget it. I’m over it for a long time. I won’t forget the high hopes the doctors had when you checked on me at the hospital a few days later: Long-term rehabilitation, new pills here, stem cells there. The hopes vanished before I got close to hope myself and I was not going to hope for scientific progress in the next decades. I wanted and needed to move on and so I did, making peace with this little beast.”, he gestured on the sides of his wheelchair with both arms.  
“I’m sorry, Nate, you didn’t deserve that. You were my first – brother that is – back then to get down on a call.”, Hen couldn’t get over her shock that fast, “I’ve asked myself a few times what happened to you after my visit. But I didn’t receive a call for a party, so I decided better not to ask again. After all they tell us to let go at the sliding door, right?”  
“Oh, you will be invited to my party, don’t worry. I’m back for just a few weekes though, so…”, Nate stopped to correct himself: “Actually it must be more than just a few weeks. Time is moving so fast these days.”, he smiled, “I decided to return to the LAFD after the earthquake.”  
It was not before that mentioning that Hen realized the uniform — the formal one, not just the shirts they wore on shifts — on him: “You wanted to return to office duty, really?”, she was again surprised — which firefighter from heart could see himself behind the desks of the headquaters?  
“What other choice would I have?”, Nate asked, “I am a little out of shape to be a help when responding to calls on the ground.”, this time, he showed a self-ironic smile while putting his left hand on the paunch to describe it as a result of the accident.  
“Frankly, I would have returned on a desk job anyway. The earthquake was just what drew me to do it at the Department.”

  
  


“Hey, Hen!”, she was once again distracted by a voice, this time a familiar one, as Buck passed by gasping for air a little — as if he had made a sprint, “And I thought I was running late!”  
So there was not just one reunion to celebrate — and she thought a celebration was in order as the comrade rescued a few years before seemed to be at peace with his fate (at least by now) – today as the next reunion just followed the first: There was Buck — the old Buck with an incredible amount of energy and optimism, not the Evan of the last weeks, frustrated and filled with anxieties about the future — smiling at her as only a Buckley could smile — she would have melted away the second men would be of any romantic interest for her.  
“Buck, you are looking great!”, she couldn’t stress that enough and smiled back as bright as she could, “Maybe a little breathless, but great.”  
For a moment after that Hen feared to have wrecked the thin new (returned actually) self-confidence the emotional reunion with his fire-family had given Buck within the first few sentences, but there she clearly had underestimated him, as he answered with an even bigger grin: “I thought as I am over the need for a good impression again, I could return to what you truly expect from me: running late.”, he even winked at her, “But then I remembered Bobby could have cooked something – that was when I started the sprint to save at least a little from Eddie and Chim.”  
“Then you should really hurry, there cars were standing there even as I arrived.”, she teased him, “And I thought I could introduce you to an old memory of mine: This is Nate.”  
“Meeting your friends is a good reason to miss out even one of Bobbys meals right now, Hen. You were a wonderful friend no matter what for the last weeks and I will have to thank you for that properly soon.”, Buck started unusual verbose for not telling some awesome new facts before he put out his hand to the visitor Hen had introduced as Nate, “Evan Buckley, but my friends just call me Buck and Hens friends are my friends.”

  
  


“Ah, Mr Buckley…”, Hen would wonder over that formal response after a few more thoughts, the hesitation to grab the hand for a handshake however she put on his disabilities, “Nathan Kehler.”  
“You are not the Nate Hen talked about, are you — Denny's fater? Something wrong with Denny, Hen?”, Buck worried before the thus associated Nate had even a chance to say something more than his name.  
Hen responded promptly: “No need to worry, Denny is doing great and that’s not Nathaniel. Who happens to be black, actually, not that pale.”, she informed him and could not resist to add with a meaningful smile, “Is Chris not enough for you, sweetie?”  
“You are the reason I’m here actually, Mr Buckley.”, the other Nate interrupted any response to that amicable peak abruptly while his tone remained as stiff as before — just as if he wanted to prevent any of his words to be misinterpreted as an acceptance of the friendship offered by Buck.  
The latter looked at him at least as baffed as Hen did while he asked: “Me? How comes that?”  
“That is something we should discuss in private, I guess. Is there an accomodation for that down here — I won’t be able to climb these stairs obviously?”, that question was interpreted quite differently, as Hen would later note: She took it as the same kind of self-mockery as the reference to fitness he made before when talking to her. Buck however noticed the odd pitch of that words and took it - unusually tactful, Hen would say - as the same kind of ragging with the own physical inadequacies as he experienced himself.

“Hen, Buck, there you are — I knew I had seen you before!”, the conversation got once again disturbed, this time by Chimnes voice from above: “Get up now, the Cap made good stuff once more.”, he urged them, “We have to celebrate the reunion this time.”  
“I’m coming!”, Hen responded loudly, before she turned back to the visitor – who surprisingly seemed not to be her visitor by now — to say goodbye: “Nice to see you back, Nate. I will join the others now so you can talk with Buck on your own. The Cap knows it already, I think?”  
“It was my pleasure, Hen.”, Nate answered and nestled on the pocket of his uniform to get a card out he handed to her — with a pleasant smile again — “Call or text me if you want to know more, then I might be able to find time just for you. One could say I have to make up for something, don’t I?”  
Hen had no idea how soon she would return to that offer at this time of course, what happened to be caused also by her putting the card in her pocket without any closer look to it while answering in the friendliest possible way: “You bet I will, Nate. We will get in touch soon – and we will see us later, Buck!”, before she walked up the stairs with a greeting wave. Later, she would be angry on herself for that.


	2. Surprises

Shortly thereafter, Evan Buckley and “the other Nate” — as he was calling them in his thoughts by now — Kehler had retreated to the backside of the hall, where Buck leaned on the wall and the visitor came to a stand — after a curve which was amazingly precise considering the joystick control of that wheelchair — directly facing him.  
“So, tell me, Nate – you don’t mind if I call you Nate like Hen does, do you? -  what’s this about?”, Buck asked flippantly as if he was trying to break the ice between them , “ Did Bobby call you to get me in line with that ‘Serving with disabilities’ thing or was it Hen and you put on this little show in front of me for a good laugh?”  
“I will be blunt, Mr Buckley”, Kehler answered in ernest, if not upset by the tone of his counterpart, “You may not. That would be inappropriate for the serious conversation I need to have with you.” Kehler seemed willing to risk a stiff neck as he continued looking up to Buck during that rejection just to keep looking him into the eyes.  
“Ah, that’s the point.”,  Buck sighted — not willing to give up on his good mood that soon after the reunion because of a grumpy psychologist — and was trying yet again to limber things up: “You know, I fucked with the last and only therapist I visited so far after roughly twenty minutes. We don’t have to repeat that, but you are not helping me to relax by announcing a serious conversation.”, he grinned, “Besides, I am better than ever now as my family took me back into their ranks. I thought Bobby got that after we had breakfast the other day.”

“It’s irrelevant for me what Captain Nash told you, Mr Buckley. I will talk to the Captain after we finished this conversation.”, that was the point where Kehler started to sound more angry than anything else, “Rest assured I will not agree on intimacies of what kind so ever even if that story sounds interesting.”  
“Don’t worry, this is Buck 2.0 speaking. He is not into this.”, Buck tried a joke yet again just followed by the clear “That would be Buck 1.0, who was cast out by Abby long time ago and I don’t miss him at all — now less than ever, I would say. I get along and don’t need somebody to boosts my self-confidence: I have this wonderful family here and my sister in the city as well.”  
If Kehlers mood could still worsen, it had by now: “If you thought I would be your new therapist, you are wrong, Mr Buckley, but I’m sure you should have used the department’s offers in the past, considering your history.”, he responded, “And if you are thinking about a new therapist as your worst nightmare, I shall not disappoint you.”, what sounded quite frankly hostile.  
“Alright, man, I got it: You don’t have humor at all. I’m sorry for what happened to you apparently to cause that, but I’m not like you. I have my way to deal with what happened to me — for good this time.”, that was Buck surprisingly close to an apology — not counting the heartfelt apology he offered to his friends when realizing just how big he had messed up by then – but that was nothing to please Nathan Kehler.   
“The reason you are telling me this and the way you do is part of the reason I need to talk to you now and stop this being a joke event in your eyes.”, he was speaking calm, but with a cutting tone.  
Evan wanted to ask what this was about to mean — seriously and direct this time — but he was cut off by Kehler’s look and dismissing hand movement before even opening his mouth as if the man was twice the man he was himself and not sitting in a wheelchair. In this behaviour, there was such a clear message that it was not Bucks part to say anything at this time — was it even disdain on a personal level?  
„You will not interrupt me this time, Mr Buckley, or I will put you in real trouble, do you understand that this time?“, the threat was no longer subtle and Kehler was apparently no longer interested to restrain himself politely — the man Hen had talked to minutes before in the friendliest of conversations had vanished by now — but besides that Kehler was nothing like these angry bystanders they met on calls and who who threw insults at their heads for messing up their daily schedules with a road closure, as he remained as calm as he had ever been.  
“So, now: My name is Nathan Kehler.”, under normal circumstances Buck would have interrupted reminding him that it was Chimney and not him who had a ‘brain incident’ and therefore might be mistaken for forgetting the introduction minutes ago — minutes that felt like eternity by now considering how much the vibes were tilted — but he chose to listen instead this time, “I am a Special Investigator with the LAFD Professional Standards Division, which you should consider for the way you adress or talk to me next time, alright?”  
  
  


Buck swallowed hard and his pulse jumped up instantly, as that came really unexpected. The silence lasted only a few seconds — which again felt like an eternity — but Kehler seemed like he was enjoying the feeling of shock in the air.  
Then, Buck was able to respond, but his voice was came closer to a croak: “Eh… I guess in that case we really had a bad start, Sir. I think it would be best if you could just forget what I said until now?”, he wasn’t aware how much pleadingly it chimed until he had said it while he was (unsuccessfully) trying to avoid that drilling — stabbing! — look Kehler gave him by now — damn, Buckley, where was his self-confidence?, “I’m Evan Buckley. Which internal investigation may I help you with?”  
“You can’t really help me for now, Mr Buckley.”, Kehler had returned to a factual tone and a businesslike expression in an instant while Buck still had the impression that he had enjoyed the show he put on since they started talking, “You should much rather think about how I might help you, but that’s nothing I get paid for. So your question should actually be what you can do for yourself.”  
“What do you mean, Sir?”, the atmosphere of intimidation worked as Buck sounded rather sheepishly.  
“I mean that you said more than enough by now.”, he got an instant response, “Things I will not forget even if you might have asked me to do that, as this kind of behavior of yours is part of the problem the LAFD has with you.”   
  
  


Again there was awkward silence before Buck could say anything. “I don’t think I understand what you are trying to say, Sir.”  
“Well, that’s something I fear as well, Mr Buckley. Another part of  your problem: You are not used to  the principle that actions might have consequences for real.” , Kehler hadn’t switched his tone at all, yet he  sounded colder than ever before in Bucks ears, “ I’m here to inform you about the opening of an official investigation into your past conduct with the Department. The  Headwaters is not to happy with employees who behave like the Messiah himself.”  
If there was any color left in Bucks face, it had faded away with that information, “But … We settled the lawsuit!”, he whispered in disbelief.  
“ You withdrew the claim against the LAFD, that’s right, Mr Buckley.”, Kehler affirmed, “But that does not mean – can not mean – that the Professional Standards Division can overlook what we found or will find about your past as you have given us all the reasons to start with questioning it.”  
“But I’m just out of all that shit now!”, incomprehension and despair could not be overlooked, every bit of the euphoria he had started his day with felt like suffocated by a thick layer of extinguishing agent.  
“That’s your point of view, Mr Buckley.”, for a moment, the other – friendlier or just  dishonest? – side of Kehler returned, that Kehler that had talked to Hen like an old friend she knew forever, “It’s not our position on that. You can not consider your past as being settled just because you think your friends have forgiven you for what you did wrong. You got away with far too much for far too long if you ask me for some open words.”  
“But the Fire Chief didn’t want the press into the whole thing?”, what could have been a threat just sounded still sheepish and desperate.  
“This is no longer your lawsuit, Mr Buckley, that’s history by your own choosing. You can’t sabotage our proceedings against you by bogus claims  to blackmail the Department any longer.”, just another frontal attack, but yet again presented in a way as if no harm was meant — how could anyone, let alone a fireman, talk that way? - “Now it’s about you and your actions, no longer about the umbrage you — or better to say your ego — took with the actions of the Department. You better get used to that.”  
“And how should I do this?”, Buck asked accordingly, fighting with himself to keep calm.  
“You ask me for advice? If you want to take the easy path, just get out of here and not even think about applying to another fire department in the USA, then we will consider the case closed.”,  with that, Kehler sounded like advising a good friend.  
In that moment – as the Kehler he could easily hate had disappeared once more - it was fighting against tears for Buck and it was a hard fight: “But this here, helping people, being a firefighter, the LAFD and Station 118, that’s my life. My life.”  
“I could go easy and just remind you that things like that would have wanted a consideration before the world met a ‘Firehose’ Buck, for example.”, no sense of gloating, sarcasm or just aggressiveness in this statement, something that smashed all expectations on the ‘advice’ he had expected from Kehler, “But that wouldn’t help, would it? Call your union representative or choose a lawyer – and choose someone who knows his stuff this time. We know how to do our jobs as well, Buck, and that’s not a threat.”  
For the first time since they had met, Kehler had used the nickname Evan had offered to a potential new friend less than fifteen minutes ago — he wouldn’t be sure even afterwards, if the time he had been trapped under the tons of steel of that fire truck had past on him faster – himself  and somehow he managed to use that preferred name in a way that Buck did not want to punch him in the face besides everything that man had said to him in between.

As if he had read that thoughts, Kehler suddenly shrugged his shoulders and then handed him an envelope,  which Buck took mechanically : “We will see each other a few times before this will get to an end  — which end whatsoever. Tell Henrietta my regards.”  
Then, his wheelchair beeped, turned around and Kehler left without another word, just a soft humming, accompanied at regular intervals by a mechanical rattle.  
Even Buckley just stood there, still leaned against the wall and completely under the impression of what he had learned now. A silent struggle with himself, at sometime accompanied by tears until he had regained the power to turn himself around and kick the locker behind him, exclaiming a loud “Fuck!”.  
At that point, Nathan Kehler had already left Station 118 as as inconspicuous as he had appeared, despite all the things that made him eye-catching .


	3. Suspicions

Bobby  had done his reputation as a cook a great favor with that special breakfast for the team. Hen honored that by downing one of the fabulous pancakes in record time — the stressful family life with Karen still in her bones — while she was unable to break trough the loud chatter of the others — especially Chim — with her concerns.  
As the Captain noticed her after a few times of starting with “Cap, you must tell me…”, he hurried to dismiss the question with a big grin: “This special pancake recipie is a family secret, Hen. No chance I hand it to you – I wouldn’t even give it to Buck, honestly…”, he stopped with that,  now  visibly irritated by the fact he couldn’t find Buck at the table and turning his head left and right to search the room for him: “Didn’t Chim say that you arrived together, Hen? Where is Buck then, that’s his party!”  
With that, silence occurred, all eyes on Bobby Nash, then on Henrietta.  
“That was the question, I had for you, Cap. Not everyone is only interested in your superb cooking skills”, Hen showed a big grin as she loved teasing her colleagues, “I’m more interested in Nate, actually.”   
When Bobby had showed outrage – fake, of course – over that lack of interest in his cooking, that had disapered right when Hen mentioned that unfamiliar name: “Nate? Who’s Nate?”  
“You didn’t tough about me getting your number, were you?”, Hen continued the teasing, but now with a little head shaking to reprimand his bad denial  — as she did with Denny at times  — “Come on, I’m at this house and you have been busted because of that, Cap.”  
“Don’t you claim seniority at this House, Hen.  That’s my place and mine alone! ”, Chimney protested, still  chewing with one of the pastries, with led to Eddy — always the father of a little but tireless tattletale — actually mirroring Hens head shaking.  
  
  


“Then you can explain to Bobby who Nathan Kehler is.”, Hen paused a few seconds, as Chim was knitting his brows with apparently no clue on that question before he looked over to the scrambled eggs to avoid the embarrassment of showing a bigger mouth than memory. Buck had used that for a bad joke about the — late and lasting — side effects of a spike through the head for sure, but that wasn’t quite Hens style of humor nor did she feel in the mood for any more humor now. Instead, she left him off: “Stop thinking too much, Chim. Bobby knows about whom I want to talk with him.”  
But Bobby seemed to have no clue about this question by the lone woman of his crew, which wasn’t fitting with Hens theory about the meeting with her former patient and let to a very biting question: “Really, Cap? Do you still want to play games with these topics after all what happened? May I remind you of that one Captain who went for hours of self-pity with his wife in the last days?” That was not fair play of course, as Athena had talked about deep regret regarding the whole Buck tragedy from her husband. “Now, as we are to fix this and get Buck back to us, you start with putting a disabled firefighter on him to still give him a role model for getting happy with desk duty?”  
No more cluelessness, just irritation, then horror in the captains’ eyes. He opened his mouth, but couldn’t find a word to deny this allegation before Eddie interjected emotionally: “You don’t want Buck back, Cap? This was just a show?”, the impetuous Texan hadn’t finished his question, let alone waited for an answer before jumping up and running down the stairs of their loft.

Normally, Hen would’ve reacted to emotional crises like that, but this time it was Chimney who got ready to follow Eddie, as the caring side of Hen seemed to be occupied with the angry side and her focus of staring at Bobby. She still noticed what Chimney was planning and stooped him without letting  Bobby – who was getting nervous more and more — rest from her stares only a second: “Stay put!”, she ordered, clearly addressing Chim with that and not the man her eyes were grilling as she spoke, “Maddie will question you on that, blame you for it, as soon as she will hear of what happened — and she will. Eddie will calm himself down in no time  — he always does. But Big Sister Buckley will freak out about what Bobby has done to her little brother. You will have to show her that you stand by your brother-in-law and not on the dark side again.” Hen wouldn’t be wrong with that assessment, but she counted a little wrong nonetheless  — a mistake she would blame herself a lot for later.

  
  


No longer being in the focus of Henrietta Wilsons full attention helped Bobby Nash to find himself again. As the Captain, he was the natural authority in this House and had no problems to stand his ground if he wanted to under normal circumstances. Not that nobody would question him wherever and whenever possible – Evan (and not before Bobby started to call him “Buck” in his thoughts as well) was a prime example of that, but as a caring stepdad of a teenage girl he got very used to it by now – but this attempts of resistance  were futile if he wanted them to be. He had shown that to Buck without any mercy, because he was so convinced to know it better. Looking back after all what happened, he wouldn’t play the strict father that much anymore but be the pally and caring father — friend, he had to remind himself again — his youngest firefighter had needed in him. He would have to think about the consequences — nearly lasting ones, but how could he be sure that they wouldn’t last by now? — of his error of judgment for a long time, think about yet another family he came close to destroy. Athena was different to that: As soon as she got into Seargant-Grant-tone, his authority was gone, even the force of him staring down somebody. He hadn’t often noticed — at all? — how Hen could use that force of her best friend as well, but by now, there was no chance of denial that she could. He couldn’t even deny that she frightened him with the mood she was in right now.  
So he did what helped — sometimes at least! — with Athena, grabbed the plate with the filled flatbread he had placed on the table earlier and hold it right next to her face, asking in a innocent – and totally off-key — tone: “Wouldn’t you like a Lefse, Hen? What about you, Chim?”  
“Oh, I know that trick, Cap. I won’t let you go with that.”, Hen rejected that offer quickly, while Chim took two of the wrap-like delis from Minnesota — or Scandinavia, to be more precise — for his own plate. Hens tone had not missed its effects on him, even when his chair felt increasingly uncomfortable. As food always helped when he was feeling uncomfortable, he took a third one, which went directly into his mouth. Still chewing, he commented: “Those are delicious, Cap!”  
The attempt to lift the mood failed miserably as Bobby had no chance to thank him — as usual — for this praise of his cooking but instead Hen drove him again, this time once again harder: “Stick your stupid potato bread somewhere else, Cap, and get to the point. What the hell's gotten into you with this?”, once again, the insistent — scary! — look completely directed at him, hit him, without mercy, “He saw a father figure in you, Bobby, and you stabbed him right into the heart, again and again. And now, after he was once again way too forgiving with you, what do you do?”, her rage was obvious. “You do some stunts to get what you want. We fought for you, man, I admired you, and now I am so close to kick the shit out of you — so close!”.  
Chim involuntarily had to whistle in recognition of this degree of insistence — nobody had talked to Bobby in this way! — what caused him a moment of attention by his best friend: “I am serious, Chim, you will have to choose. I can’t stand this injustice and it’s Eddies friend who has saved himself a special place in Athena’s heart. But Maddie… hell for Maddie this is different. She is Bucks big sister, his real family!”, she took a deep breath, “I don’t know how much you know about the Buckley's. but she feels somewhat like Bucks mother and I can say to you — as a mother — that you should never mess with mother instincts!”

  
  


This short shift of focus was what Bobby had needed to regain most of his self-confidence  — his whole self-confidence, if he was honest, but he would be smart enough not to back down a little and deescalate in that way  — and take the floor: “I know that I made mistakes, Hen, and that I wasn’t fair to Buck”, the look he got was  judgmental , “… unfair…”,  he swallowed  — that much to self-confidence  — “that I behaved like an asshole. But I am serious: I want a new beginning for Evan. For Evan and me. For all of us.”  
“ That sounds like you mean it.”, Hen admitted, but didn’t seem satisfied – instead she seemed to interpret this statement as a wish to part ways with Buck to start anew. “Why do you do that?”  
“I would  love to give you an answer, Hen.”,  Bobby was close to praying for the alarm to go off  and give them an opportunity to cool down , but destiny —  as usual — apparently had other plans for him, “ But I’m serious: I don’t know a Nate Kehler and I’ve no idea what kind of person you think I am that makes you flipping out like this. I might deserve it after the mess I created, but I  haven't planed  anything else than this special breakfast for the team — including Buck!”  
He noticed the distrust in his words that was in Hen’s intense mustering.  She didn’t believe him and that hurt. But it hurt even more, that he now understood the cause of distrust  — and the wish for a good gla s s of something strong,  no ma tter the time of the day and the length of the shift.

H en looked as she had guessed his thoughts, her sharp look suddenly turned into compassion, even regret and her accusatory tone became calm, downright soft: “ You didn’t know it for real? Damn, Bobby. And I cause such a scene after we barely learned what happens if we don’t listen to each other.”  
“Whatever you think, Hen, I’ve given you sufficient reasons for that in the last weeks. I was not a good Captain, a bad role model, a lousy friend and last but not least I pushed Buck away while trying to protect him”, the grief and self-reproach couldn’t be ignored as the cheerful Bobby had dropped his mask.  
He had sworn himself — had been so sure! — that after the reconciliation, everything would be good again, their 118-family  would be reunited. But yet again, once more,  destiny  had other plans with him — them! — apparently. Bobby knew that he couldn’t run as Eddie had done minutes before if this hopeful day shouldn’t end in a disaster — the disaster that would be another reaps — that was already on its way after Eddie had not just run from the situation itself, but specifically from the imagined  — just imagined!  — repeated breach of trust by his Captain.  For the single parent, Buck had evolved from a  unprovoked  nuisance  to his best friend and important supporter, what had made standing Buck’s growing frustration and its culmination in the lawsuit even more painful and — seemingly — as well the fear that Bobby could’ve destroyed what had not yet been repaired.  
“ Honestly, Hen!”, Chimney ended the awkward silence and took another Lefse, “You should explain what happened. Right now you behave as if you have seen a ghost when you came in with Buck. So, who the hell is Nate Kehler?”  
“Remember the call in the week before Cooks retired?”, Hen asked in reply.  
“That’s more than four years ago, Hen. Should I remember this particular call?”, he closed the eyes and tried to remember something.  
“ I am quite sure you remember it.”, Hen thought back to this call often, “I could tell you the number of days passed since then to be honest.”  
“Wait, this old warehouse? We were only called as a backup, why do you remember it so vividly?”, Chim faltered, “Wait, this is Nate Kehler? Your first wounded brother in uniform?”, for Chim, cases like that were special too, but it was different – he tried hard to forget, not to remember after every single one.  
She nodded: “Nate was on the ladder to ventilate the building when one of the steel girders collapsed and a wall crashed away to the outside, directly against the ladder. Nate and his partner Frank were hurled from the ladder’s basket. You attended Frank, I took on Nate at this afternoon.  
Chimney swallowed hard — this time not to eat, but visibly shaken by the memories that returned: “Frank died on the scene”, he remembered, “and I suffered a breakdown from that after what had happened to Kevin.”  
“We called the helicopter for Nate, even if it seemed hopeless. But he made it. He’s paraplegic now, but he lives.”, Hen’s voice was sympathetic, nearly toneless after the confession Chim had just made.

“So you saved his life, and he wanted to thank you for this now?”, Bobby tried to rejoin the conversation and was relieved by the information he had just gained – it sounded more and more like the big misunderstanding it was. He couldn’t say of course that he wasn’t touched by the tragedy his friends had just remembered but unlike Hen and Chim, he hadn’t seen it himself and could take it more factual than emotional.  
“Well, I think that this wasn’t planned as a visit for me, Cap.”, Hen explained her best guess, “He approached me in his uniform when I arrived, but turned to Buck as soon as he entered the House.”  
“Wait a second! This guy returned to service after being paralyzed?”, Chimney seemed stunned, “I mean I probably shouldn’t say to much after this thing was in my head, but that sounds insane!”  
Bobby forced himself to chuckle a little, Hen meant it: “He’s in a wheelchair now and forever. But after the earthquake he decided to return to LAFD Headquarters. He couldn’t tell me more before our sunny boy gained his attention.”  
“And what was his thing with Buck then, Hen?”, Bobby was completely confused from all of this at that point.  
“I was so damn sure you could tell me, Bobby!”, Hen couldn’t help him on that either.  
“Did your Nate say that?”, he followed up on that answer.  
“Yea.”, Hen stopped — had Nate really said that? — “Nah.” — but he had not objected after her mentioning of Bobby – “I’m not sure. But I was under the impression that the Headquarters would at least tell a Captain if and what one of their own was up to at a Station, what Nate wants from Buck. You’re the Captain, man!”  
“The Chief didn’t say a word, Hen.”, Bobby assured her, “And I did not arrange for any such meeting for sure, but…”  
“But?”, now it was Chim’s insisting look that rested upon him, “I was Acting Captain once, Bobby. They have to tell you in advance!”  
„Well, I was focused on making the breakfast of your life's this morning and only checked my e-mails real quick only once.”, the Captain had to confess and jumped to his feet, “Maybe I should do it again to prove my innocence, my pure intentions for today, to you.”  
“Relax, Cap, I believe you. I should’ve concluded earlier that you didn’t know anything about this. But it just fitted with the scenario I constructed to explain this close encounter.”, it was Hens turn to confess, “I’m sorry for thinking that bad of you!”

„Then we can continue with breakfast now!”, Chimney cheered and grabbed — as to seal the deal — a brownie with blueberries as a topping.  
“You havn’t even stopped.”, Hen teased but took the opportunity to really look at the many foods offered on the table for the first time.  
Bobby had taken his phone out in the meantime and was scrolling through his e-mails to a message from Headquarters that got seemingly more and more unpleasant with every line of reading.  
Then they were interrupted again, this time by a metallic noise that made them jump up at once and then running down the stairs in record time.


	4. One seldom comes alone

After that rage, Buck needed to get outside for some fresh air, what became a little more challenging than expected: Not that the back door of the firehouse was more than a few steps away from the corner in which Kehler had compelled him, not that as a firefighter he wasn’t used to kick doors — he didn’t caused any major damage to that metal shelve at all in fact! — and not that his doctors hadn’t declared him to be fit for service again weeks ago — which had been the start of this damned lawsuit, that came back to and over him again and again, after all – but he had used his left leg to let the rage out.  
That must have been a reflex because he was safer to balance on his right side which hadn’t been crushed under the truck, but now, there was this pulling type of pain in his left leg and he couldn’t avoid limping through the door.  
Outside, he sat down next to the door on the floor and leaned against the wall of the building, his eyes closed and taking a few deep breaths. Then he started to to carefully rub out the leg, as his physiotherapists had always done, which helped.  
The pain — which wasn’t too bad, so he could sure it wasn’t worse than a stress reaction of his muscles which weren’t as trained as they used to be before the incident — was in fact useful to sort his toughs out a little against the chaos the news had brought: Just a few days ago he had signed the large number of documents Chase Mackey had handed to him, just a few minutes ago he had been set to return as a member of the family their firehouse had become, and now the LAFD wanted to start a new fight with him, he was again close to loose his job and the family that meant his life? Fate wasn’t fair to him at all, never had been, but why was it so cruel to not even let him have a few happy moments until a new mess started building up?

  
  


  
  


“Hey, man, what happened?”, Buck could hear a well-known voice. He didn’t have to open his eyes or turn his head to recognise it: “Eddie! — What are you doing here? The Cap offered breakfast for us inside, didn’t he?”, he wanted to know on the one hand, but on the other hand wanted to stop his best friend from interrupting hist best chance for a break.  
“I could ask you the same, Buck.”, the Latino asked without waiting for an answer: “But I know you needed fresh air, just like me. After all Bobby did to you now again, I’m not hungry anymore and even if I were, I wouldn’t eat something this bastard cooked!”  
“Eddie, Bobby isn’t a bastard!”, Buck rejected that passionately – that man had become like the father he never had as a child and they just reconsiled a few hours ago — but stopped there with his defense: “Wait, did he say he called this Kehler?”  
“There was no need for him to say it, Buck. I can add up one and one to count two, even if I fail to help with Chris’ math homework. It’s so obvious that he doesn’t want you here anymore. I’ve been blind for so long, let my anger blind me.”  
“You really think Bobby would go that far after promising me a cozy world just yesterday?”, Buck couldn’t stop himself from sobbing and drew Eddies attention to his face. As he was close to him now, the traces of tears catched his eyes: “You cried?”  
It wasn’t a real question and the hasted “No!” wasn’t a convincing answer.  
“I’m a dad, Buck, and Chris has nightmares and bad moments. I recognise tears when I see them, so stop it: It’s alright to cry when you are angry or disappointed. Was it really that bad?”  
“They want to take my job, Eddie. Again and this time for real!”, Buck managed to squeeze out.  
“Wait a second!”, Eddie sounded confused with that information, “How do you mean that? I mean, Bobby would be more than happy to see you behind a desk like this Nate but he can’t force you, they can’t force you. This guy decided for himself to return to LAFD and his injuries sounded much worse than anything that happened to you.”  
“How do you…”, Buck tried to ask, but Eddie continued without the question being asked: “Hen called him out on that. If I understood correctly, she saved him after an accident. Really, really sneaky to present you with a ‘role model’ for a happy firefighter without calls on your first real day back.”

„This isn‘t about happiness outside of this life we choose, Eddie. Kehler isn’t just a firefighter vet who could assigned some desk work now.”, Buck had to take a deep breath and his his stomach tightened up at the idea — certainty? — that after all the suffering and all the words, Bobby could have done this to him as well: “Kehler is with the Professional Standards Division. They opened an investigation into the stuff that got up from my past with that lawsuit.”, as he said that, a few tears broke their way again, tears of fear that all the pains of the last weeks and months could be wasted in the end, but also tears of disappointment with his father figure – yet another father who failed him: “Bobby must not have wanted this, Eddie, he can’t have wanted that. We talked yesterday just like before all of that. It was all good between us again!”  
Instead of tears, temper broke out with Eddie – that kind of temper that had led him to jail and nearly to court as well not long ago - “Bastardo, como dije. I could punch him happily right away! Bastardo!”  
He got down on his knees and placed his hands to Bucks shoulders: “I won’t let you go through this alone this time, querido amigo: I’ve got your back!”  
“You have never let me down, Eddie. I let you down, you and Chris. And all of it because this damned lawsuit which got it all just worse. Bobby would have taken me back at some point, now he snitched on my for my dumb mistakes from years ago.”, there was nothing more than bitterniss in his voice at this point: “If I’m honest with myself, I get what I’ve earned. But I thought of Bobby as a better man than all others after all he went through himself.”

  
  


  
Eddie couldn’t answer before they heard someone clearing his – or rather her – throat behind them: “Sorry to interrupt you, guys, but I thought you could mind me listening in in your conversation.”  
Eddie turned around and sounded surprised calling out “Lena!”, but was a bit clumsy in doing so, inadvertently resting on Buck's left leg of all things, which caused a painful hissing sound from him. He was too much focused on the situation to notice that right away: “Now we come closer to the whole picture and the puzzle is matching up. The Captain even got Buck replaced already and that replacement must be you of all firefighters?”, he voiced his thoughts, “I mean, not that I dislike working with a friend, but if you switch over to the 118 this way, I won’t stand that and so won’t the others. Buck is family for us, you aren’t right now. You can’t want this!”  
Bosko just returned the same irritated look which what Eddie focused herself, even if there might be a glimpse of emotional hurt added to it: “Slow down, Eddie. First of all, I got you out of jail as you couldn’t call anyone else — as you told me. That must mean something and I must mean something to you. And secondly…”  
“Wait a second, Bosko!”, Buck’s voice was strained, which Eddie explained with his — understandable — dislike for his so-called stand-in — which seemed to be his replacement after all (as he suspected before and Eddie told him to stop worrying) — to himself.  
“What you trow at my hat back then wasn’t just a random example!”, Buck combined, returned to the usual pitch, “You were in trouble and thought I would give a shit on this shitty lawsuit?”  
Eddie throw a reproachful look in Bosko's direction as they had agreed on keeping this a secret for themselves, then he turned back to Buck: “If I had called you, you wouldn’t have answered in the first place. It was you who insisted on not talking to each other, remember?”, he realized that he sounded more accusatory than he had intended and that what he said was also accusing, what he had wanted — sworn to himself after he had forgiven Buck — to avoid, and swallowed: “Can we just not talk about it? It wasn’t a big deal, just some kind of annoying misunderstanding about a parking lot.”  
Buck didn’t seem convinced – how could he after noticing what he had noticed a few minutes ago – and grabbed one hand of his best friend to inspect it more closely: “Not a big deal, is it?”, the question was the question was probing, doubts unmistakable, “And there is no connection at all to those scratches that are certainly not from romping around with Chris?

The thoughts turned over in Eddies head as, once more – like with so many things in his life – he had no idea how to answer that question, until Bosko of all people came to his rescue: “I think, we should first of all take a look at your leg, Buckley.”  
Unlike anything Buck had expected, there was no sound of disdain, no gloating, nor a triumphant 'Didn't I tell you so!', rather affection — even worry about the well-being of a colleague? — in her voice.  
With that, she had handed the perfect excuse to Eddie not to answer the question and even though Buck had hurried to withdraw his left hand from his maltreated leg, to stop the rubbing-out, it was too late: He had exposed himself and would fall victim to Eddie's protective instincts.


	5. Calls from the past

“ _9-1-1, what’s your emergency?”, it was Josh first call on this morning.  
“I hear him again, he’s calling me!”, the female caller stated with trembling voice, breathing heavily.  
“Ma’am, stay calm, I’m with you. What happened?”, he had managed enough of these calls to stay professional and knew that it was that what mattered in these situations.  
“My husband is calling my name, telling me that he needs my help!”, the desperation was impossible to ignore.  
“Can you go to your husband?”, he suggested.  
“He… He’s dead. Nearly two years now. I’m hearing his voice, only in the evenings, not in the mornings, since the beginning of this week! I’m going crazy now!”, the breathing accelerated.  
“Ma’am, you have to breath deep and slowly. Police is just a few blocks away. Somebody will ring at your door soon and asses the situation. Do you need medical help, Ma’am?”  
“No, I’m good, Sir. I was a nurse, you know, my husband was a doctor”, Josh cursed silently already for sending somebody that fast if the caller was just looking for somebody to talk to, but changed his mind quickly as the woman continued: “That shouldn’t happen at all!” - that was no lonely widow, that was pure panic._

  
  


Athena sighed: Not only had she just received a quite desperate message from Bobby to visit the station in her break to be a character witness for her husband to Buck, but also had she been deployed to a ‘ghost call’ mere seconds after she had accepted the invitation, just a few streets away — damn, she had just wanted for all this Halloween crap to end.  
But then she had to remember her last call relating to ghosts, as a elderly woman had been haunted by a ghost in her living room, who was – as only the investigation had shown – a human made of flesh and blood, in the person of her violent ex-son-in-law, who at that point had been on the hunt for his ex-wife. It had been a quite important piece of the puzzle to know that and thereby a good lesson not to judge a call only because he seemed ridiculous at first sight and in instant to be happy about the well qualified 911 dispatchers who didn’t focus on simply getting rid of callers.  
It was either too early or too late for traffic problems on her short drive and the neighborhood was a good one. ‘Preferred residential area’ would be the advertising for it, or — with other words: one would lose a fortune for the rent of only the smallest apartment, not even mentioning the price to buy it.  
The apartment from which the call had been made was located on the first floor of a house with three floors and six apartments — she counted two on the first floor and two on the second floor plus another stair further up — made a completely average impression for this street, even if the ravages of time had gnawed at it a little. But that was the difference to all those new building projects in other residential areas that just looked sterile. She’d miss the garden, but not everyone was as lucky as she was to have an architect for husband — ex-husband and kind of best friend, even if it was a completely different friendship compared to that she had with Hen.

  
  


She didn’t need to knock as the door was already open and  an elderly woman – a lady! - in neat clothes stretched out her head  to greet Athena with an apology: “Goodness, they send me the police just because I got lost in some fantasies. I’m sorry to bother you, Officer…”  
“ Don’t worry, Ma’am, we’re happy to help – even if it’s just looking that everything is truly alright, that will be good for both of us.”, she assured the resident, “I’m Sergeant Grant. May I come in?”   
“Of course — you made the effort to come over for me – a police Sergeant gets deployed for a widow who hears ghosts.”, it was obvious that the lady was more concerned about being a burden at the moment than about the cause for her call. She didn’t just call to get some attention, Athena could feel that as she entered and closed the door behind her.  
“Please, lets get to the living room.”, the sprightly pensioner  asked her, having already reached the other end of the floor. It wasn’t a big apartment, but a beautiful one. Besides the door to the living room, there were two other doors left and right – bedroom with bathroom and kitchen, she guessed, but needed to correct herself instantly: “We’ve to walk through it nonetheless to get into the bedroom — that’s where I hear the voices.”   
“ Maybe you tell me what happened first, Mrs…?”, Athena suggested.  
“Of course, of course, where do I have my head. I’ve been a nurse that long and always told my patients that I can’t help them if they don’t tell me who they are and what’s wrong with them…”, followed another apology as the lady placed herself in on of the armchairs and apologized for that too: “I’m on my feet for hours under normal circumstances, Sergeant, but that whole thing has been a nuisance to me in the last few days. I’m sleeping terrible and that shock before I called…”  
“No problem at all, Ma’am. Are you sure that you don’t need an ambulance?”, she smiled, trying to convince her host, “That wouldn’t be any  trouble either. A good friend of mine sits on an ambulance and is always happy to help people — even if it’s just to confirm that everything is alright from a medical perspective.”  
“ Please call me Marian, Sergeant. I haven't been called Ma’am by anyone, not even my husband Arthur. Not even my surname, our family name – Shields – was to be noted by anyone. In the first years, a was ‘that black nurse’, later Nurse Marian.”, Marian Shields remembered.  
“So you have a very prominent namesake, Marian — the mother of our former First Lady”, Athena commented, “And your call was about your husband, did I copy that correctly?”  
Marian Shields laughed wholeheartedly “You’re interested in gossip, Sergeant Grant? I haven’t much left besides those magazines since my Arthur died, but that whole ‘Marian Shields’ thing was before that and I just got asked about it by other people.”,  she got serious and the smile gave way to a sad facial expression, “It’s not wrong that this is about Arthur, as I’m hearing his voice. But I know that this can’t be his voice, for real.”  
“How long is your husband dead, Marian?”, Athena continued her questioning as this whole situation was odd: Marian Shields didn’t seem to be pathologically confused in any way, not to talk about insanity.  
“Almost two years now, Sergeant”., she answered calm, but still full of melancholy, “We had a good life together besides the hardships of being accepted. My husband was a white guy, you know? He threw his career away as he married me. People insulted us at first, then we got looked at for so many years and for a short time, we felt accepted after all. I’m just happy that Arty didn’t get all of what happened in the last few years.”  
“ I can imagine how you felt, Marian. My second husband isn’t what my mother wanted for me. Always the rather traditional kind of black woman.”, Athena could just tell her.  
“Don’t take it too hard, dear, happiness will prevail. Love is stronger — even past death, that’s what I’m feeling even now. That’s why this voice is so absurd, you know, but if I tell my daughter, she will place me on one of those ‘Senior Citizens’ Residencies’”, her kind words quickly turned back to worry, her voice became fragile, “I don’t want to leave here as long as I can take care for myself. We lived here our whole life, you know? Our grandson had his sleepover weekends in our daughters old room. But Mel thinks I’m too old for all of that.”

  
  


“Your daughter is simply concerned about you, Marian. My daughter, May, is a teenager. Being concerned is my job – a job I get laughed at for sometimes – but at some point, that changes.”, Athena tried to reason with her motherly instincts.  
“Of course my Melanie only wants the best for me. She selected a location not far from the cemetery. No longer taking the bus for visiting my Arty.”, Marian agreed, “But I’d have to take the bus to go to my church or visit my friends — the few that are left here. And I’d have to leave the decades of memories inside this place – my home.”  
Athena nodded: “I understand, Ma’am. I would hate to leave my house too, even when it’s not the same anymore and too big for just my husband and me after the kids leave. But you seem to be doing well in here, Marian, no need to move out as far as I see it.”  
“But that’s what my Arty — the voice of him — tries to tell me, Sergeant Granr: That I should move on, come closer to him. That he misses me.”  
Athena clipped: “Your husband is telling you that? Have you talked about moving out here in the past?”  
“The voice doesn’t sound right, you know, but it has to be his: There’s nobody who called me Anny besides him.”, that answer didn’t help too much.  
“And when do you hear this voice?”, was the next logical step for the investigation of (possible) third kind.  
“Until today, I heard the voice after I went to bed for a few days. I thought about it as some kind of dream.”, Marian explained, “But then I heard it this morning, after I was long awaken.”  
“What was different today?”, Athena wanted to know — she had some kind of idea were this was going, even if it was guessing into the blue.  
“I started my coffee and went back to the bedroom to change the sheets. My daughter is doing that for me normally, but yesterday she couldn’t come for her regular visit and it’s not something I can’t do myself if they let me do it.”, Marian got into chatter, but stopped herself, adding: “I guess that doesn’t help your investigation, Sergeant Grant, does it?”  
“To be honest, Marian, I think that it was very helpful indeed.”, Athena assured her, “I’d like to see the bedroom — I think we can solve this mystery in no time.”


	6. Family Council

Unlike his wife, Bobby wasn’t so lucky to be reliefed from an unpleasant task by the call of duty. Of course firefighters were saving the day for the many people they helped on their calls, and on some days – he considered those days to be the bad and not the good ones as they included disaster of some kind – they grow to be heros. On other days they spent most of the time during a shift to wait for the same to end without big incidents. On these days it was important for them to occupy themselves and to be able to endure spending hour after hour together, have their meals together and sleep in beds that were not even seperated by walls.  
No wonder that they sometimes grew closer with their shift than some families were. But that required at least as much effort as with the own families when problems occurred.  
In Bobby’s opinion, there had be far too many problems in his Station 118, but with most of it, they were innocent as the problems came looking for them and not the other way round. That was not the case, however, with the problems related to Buck –  and apparently, those problems could not be solved with sincere apologies .  Mistrust once created in a family didn’t disappear without great efforts, even without the presssure from the outside that Buck was now exposed to.  
And as Buck was exposed to it, they all had to dea with it and distance themselves from that preasure in a way that he could believe them.

  
  


H e realised that his problems had grown quickly after Hen decleared the search for Buck (and Eddie) finished  by shouting “Got ‘em!”  and kept the bac kdoor open for them. Had she seemed as if she had overcome her mistrust against Bobby as quickly as it had burst out of her, she now appeared highly angry again: “I think you’ll need to explain much more, Captain!”  
“What now, Hen?”, Chimney, who had searched in the other direction with Bobby, sighed desperately.  Then he  spotted Bosko, who entered into the station closely behind Hen and raised his eybrows.  
“You got it, Chim!”, Hen snorted, “That’s what I want to ask Bobby now: How dare you to bring in Buck's replacement right away and then play innocent?”  
“Wait, wait!”, Buck interjected, sounding uncertain, perhaps even fearful, as he stared at Bobby with the look of an injured puppy dog, “You’re involved in that, Bobby?”

  
  


“He offered me the job, but I…”, Lena Bosko started to explain, but was interrupted by Chimney: “He offered you ‘the job’, Bosko? - Buck’s job?”  
It put another stab in Boby's heart to hear these allegations from his team, and it ended his hope of being able to put it off for a few hours to have Athena with him, and thus a voice of reason in this emotional situation. One the one hand couldn't stand the fact that his team could believe that he wanted to replace Buck yet another time, but could on the other hand hardly blame them for that when he recalled his mistakes of the last months - not that that was necessary, after all, his own guilty feelings about that already haunted him long enough.  
But the worst thing of all was having to watch Buck in this situation after their discussion not long ago had just allowed the long-suffering firefighter starting to shine again.  
Now he even seemed to have trouble keeping on his feet, was more or less unobtrusively supported from the side by Eddie and had his gaze directed back towards the ground quickly while asking those questions.  
"No!" Bobby replied in a hoarse voice after this brief hesitation, "I’ve nothing to do with any of this and just got the e-mail from headquarters informing me of this investigation. The fact that Lena is here today has nothing to do with it. If I'd known it was going to be this messy today, I wouldn't have invited her as a surprise, I'd have brought her right along."  
"A surprise?" Eddie asked suspiciously; he wasn't the only one who had had enough of surprises for the near future.  
"You know, guys...", Bobby started, but then had to take another deep breath, "We've been understaffed on our shift for ages, as you know. ", he looked over at Chimney, "I convinced myself that I couldn't commit Chimney to the ambulance and therefore had to keep a spot open in the ladder truck.", then to Eddie, "Then with Eddie, the problem eased up a bit last year and I was happy with the little 118 family we became. So I didn't want to add another member from the outside that would have been kind of disruptive. In the last few days, I've realized that not only was my behavior towards Buck unfair and was what caused the real disruption, but also that this fear was silly. We worked well together with Lena, why shouldn't that continue with Buck back in full force?"

  
  


Lena smiled almost a little shyly, but perhaps just uncertainly considering the strange spectacle: "I didn't feel that I had already arrived in your family, but were on a good path. In any case, on a better path than the new captain of my old Station, who thinks woman shouldn't be on the squad and has made that clear to me," she explained, "I realized that my previous camaraderie was not what I had thought. With you guys I felt welcome, with the 136 it was just Ronnie who made sure I didn't feel unwanted even though I was. Without Captain Cooper, I no longer have a reason to be there, but you guys gave me plenty of reasons to want to continue working with you. When Bobby called, I didn't have to think twice about coming back to you guys after all. Not as a substitute or replacement, but permanently, as Lena Bosko."  
"Was that some kind of job interview now, Bosko?" joked Chimney with a grin, "Are you afraid we don't want you anymore?"  
"You don't even have a choice anymore, friends, the Chief approved my transfer a long time ago. I just wanted to make clear to you how great the 118 can be compared to other workplaces," his new colleague showed himself quick-witted, though, "That seemed to be kind of forgotten just now, when you were hissing at each other like cats in a turf war."  
"You have a cat, Lena?" was the first thing that came to Eddie's mind - though their new team member probably wouldn't have expected an answer.  
"I don't have a cat, man. As my friend, you might already know something like that, don't you think?" she snorted, "But honestly, I really don't think we've been real friends yet. You were looking for a way to get your life back on track and had other things on your mind than taking an interest in my life. I still like you and I'm sure the past won't get in the way of the future," she smiled at him.  
That smile, in turn, seemed to be enough incentive for Buck to break free from his stupor of shock and the spirals of his thoughts, "What did I miss?" he inquired.  
"Envious?" laughed Hen - even though she hadn't actually felt like laughing! - "You have no claim to be Eddie's only friend, Buck, you'll have to share him with us already. And with Lena, who I guess is one of us now."  
"I'm not jealous, Hen! Why should I be jealous?" denied Buck a little too hastily for it to sound credible, but after all the turmoil no one seemed to notice - except Hen, who threw him a meaningful smile and winked, which, however, did not answer his question and - serious! - perplexity concerning this statement. However, he was probably still busy with too many other things to think about it at the moment, because he refrained from asking.

"Well, now that that's settled, we might as well go back upstairs, right?", Bobby tried to suggest in a nonchalant manner, "We weren't done with breakfast yet, and Lena and Buck haven't even gotten to enjoy any of it yet."  
He thereby burst a particularly delicate bubble, that of the cold reality from which they had actually escaped for the duration of a slightly absurd exchange about cat fights and friendships. In this reality, however, the question of the back story between Lena and Eddie suddenly didn't matter to Buck at all, the shock seemed almost to have caught up with him again, just as suddenly as he had been able to break free of it.  
"Not hungry." he replied in a slurred mumble, "But you guys go ahead without me. I'm probably suspended again anyway."  
"Bullshit, Buck. You're coming along. We'll get your appetite back by waffles at the latest," Bobby, on the other hand, made an effort to be confident, "And of course you won't be suspended. This investigation isn't my decision, a suspension is - and because the investigation is crap, I'm sure as hell not going to suspend you.", he took a few steps over, right next to Eddie in Buck's vicinity, and headed him on the shoulder, "We're family and we'll figure this out together.", he promised him somewhat subdued - though in the silence of the hall, everyone probably understood.  
Then he turned to the others, "Now get up there, we still have breakfast to enjoy," he demanded firmly.  
Just as the team started to move, however, the moment of silence ended with a shrill alarm, but limited to " Ambulance 118" alerted for an "ambulance transport from the senior residence." Accordingly, a disappointed Chimney turned back at the top of the stairs and stormed on instead, closely followed by Hen.  
"Don't worry, Howie, we'll leave something for you!", Bosko teasingly called after him, to which Hen hastily replied "Don't worry, Bosko, he's not pregnant yet!", before slamming the door and setting the car in motion. This brief exchange actually lightened the mood noticeably once again and made everyone - with the exception of Buck, whose sister this joke was about after all - laugh out loud. Once again, the problems faded into the background for a few seconds.

  
  


In fact, Bobby's prediction came true - or was it his fatherly instinct? - and it was the waffles that finally got Buck to eat something after all. That something was wrong was nevertheless obvious, because in contrast to usual Buck was in no hurry at all to devour one waffle after the other, as Eddie observed - in this respect he could really compete fabulously with Christopher, at least as long as he didn't feel he had to be a good role model for his favorite Diaz. On the other hand, that was hardly surprising; after all, it was Eddie, in particular, who incidentally urged Buck to give a detailed account of his encounter with this Kehler.  
"Good that Hen's not here." the fast-paced Latino finally stated, "I'll bet she'd break that guy's back again!"  
"Eddie!" this time it was Bosko who tried to call him to moderation.  
"What? I would, right away." he retorted, only to prefer to beat a hasty verbal retreat, "Or at least would have fun imagining it."  
"Eddie, please. This Kehler guy is just doing his job," it wasn't a rebuke Bobby was issuing, more an attempt to make himself feel better about the situation, "I'm sure we can get this out of the way quickly."  
"He told me I needed a good lawyer," Buck repeated again what he had long since reported, "So it's serious."  
"Or maybe he was just trying to keep you from falling for another scam artist when you went looking for help," Eddie slipped out before biting his tongue.  
"Sounds more like fair play to me, Buck," Bobby, on the other hand, tried to reassure him, recalling his own hearing before the Disciplinary Commission "I wasn't advised to get a lawyer then - and when I think about what was at stake for me there, I'd rather have had someone."  
"But you didn't have some prosecutor come running along," Buck countered.  
"Not to the station, no. They visited me at home and suspended me immediately. And yet I'm still sitting here as your captain." that didn't lead to a change in the hopeful undertone, "I'll ask Athena for some names later, she knows some good lawyers."  
Buck nodded mutely and broke a piece of waffle on his plate into  even  smaller pieces.  
"I could ask my friend, too," Bosko offered, and was immediately interrupted by Eddie_ "You have a boyfriend, Lena?"  
"Why wouldn't I, Eddie. Were you hoping I was still available?" he once again caught a harsh counter, albeit clearly meant in jest.  
"You just never mentioned it," Eddie sounded apologetic.  
"I told you, you know pretty little about me, Edmundo Diaz," she grinned, "He's on the police force too, and he just talked to a lawyer recently because there was some problem."  
"Some problem?", Eddie's curiosity was now piqued.  
"Just because you're suddenly interested in my life doesn't make it all your business, Eds," she teased, reaching for one of the waffles in her turn.  
"Refill anyone?", Bobby tried a subtle change of subject after Lena Bosko had once again pleasantly surprised him and fate seemed to want them to continue having a quiet morning.


End file.
